1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to a method for preparing a tobacco extract. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention are directed to a method, an apparatus and a system for preparing a tobacco extract which can be used in electronic smoking devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic smoking device, such as an electronic cigarette or an electronic pipe, is an electrical device that simulates the act of tobacco smoking by producing an inhaled mist having the appearance, the physical sensation, and the flavor and nicotine content of inhaled tobacco smoke without the harmful health risks of conventional smoking products.
Known electronic smoking devices include an atomizing element, for example, a nebulizer or atomizer, which uses heat to volatilize contents of a nicotine cartridge which is inhaled by a user. The nicotine cartridge typically contains a propylene glycol- or glycerin-based liquid solution. The heating element is controlled by a computer chip that is activated by the inhalation or “draw” of the user on the end of electronic smoking devices. Typically, the opposite end of electronic smoking devices will include a light that glows when the device is being “smoked” or drawn upon by the user to simulate the appearance of smoking.
Electronic smoking devices offer significant health benefits compared to conventional smoking products. For example, with conventional smoking products, the user is exposed to carcinogens when tobacco, for example, in a cigarette or a pipe, is burned. Whereas, by simply inhaling nicotine using electronic smoking devices, the user may avoid exposure to the carcinogens.
Although there are many significant health benefits to electronic smoking devices, some organizations such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not considered electronic smoking devices as a reduced risk product in the United States. Proponents of electronic smoking devices have requested that the FDA offer clarity to consumers and the industry as to what constitutes a reduced risk product. The FDA's current parameters defining a reduced risk product in the United States market are considered by many to be unclear.
Proponents of electronic smoking devices argue that the effluent from electronic smoking devices is a vapor, not a smoke, and therefore electronic smoking devices are exempted from bans on smoking in public places. This argument is accepted by authorities in many jurisdictions in the United States and by private entities that create their own smoking guidelines.
A significant source of controversy has been the appropriate regulatory treatment of electronic smoking devices. Some believe that the use of the nicotine cartridge in electronic smoking devices means that the product represents a nicotine delivery device subject to regulation as a drug by the FDA (or similar health authority). Nicotine has a long history of regulation as a drug in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions, including nicotine inhalation products, such as those sold as over-the-counter products in the United Kingdom. Nicotine is approved for the therapeutic indication of smoking cessation. Cessation is at least related to the intended use of electronic smoking devices which presumably will be used as a substitute to conventional smoking products.
Some proponents of electronic smoking devices argue that this device should not be regulated as a drug delivery device because of its potential benefits to the public health. While electronic smoking devices do offer significant health benefits, a health benefit to the user has historically not been a satisfactory reason to ignore or avoid an application of the FDA's guidelines and rules for the advancement of product safety. Concern has grown that electronic smoking devices are not being made safely or sold as represented. For example, some electronic smoking devices are known to be ineffective for the intended purpose of delivering nicotine.
Proponents of electronic smoking devices further argue that the unnecessary treatment of electronic smoking devices as a drug increases costs that may limit the use of the product or places limits on marketing the product.
The FDA has selectively banned the importation of nicotine cartridges in the United States, leading to litigation with several marketers of electronic smoking devices. The marketers involved in this litigation argue that their products should be regulated as tobacco products, not as drug products, although in many situations the marketers are inconsistent with the way that they treat their own product as a tobacco product (i.e., the marketers fail to affix a proper tobacco health warning label on electronic smoking devices). The courts have had differing opinions on whether the FDA's implementation of a ban on these electronic smoking devices is proper or not. Many countries, such as New Zealand, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil, ban the use of electronic smoking devices.
Online smoking forums have discussed the use of tobacco extract in electronic smoking devices. These forums have primarily focused on the extraction of pure nicotine from tobacco for use in homemade versions of existing nicotine-based cartridges for electronic smoking devices. These forums have acknowledged, however, that the tobacco extract prepared by conventional methods are not considered pure extracts because they lack the appearance and the potency required by users of electronic smoking devices.
The majority of these conventional methods for preparing tobacco extract, however, require the use of non-water solvents (e.g., ammonium, polyhydric alcohol) that are not appropriate for use in a vapor inhalation device, and therefore are not authorized solvents for use in these types of applications by regulatory authorities such as the FDA.
Conventional methods also provide for the preparation of tobacco extract for use with electronic smoking devices which use treated water as a solvent. For example, the water may be treated with an alkali such as ammonia, lime, or lye. The treated water solvent is also not appropriate for use in a vapor inhalation device, and therefore also not an authorized solvent for use in these types of applications by regulatory authorities. Some conventional methods also provide for the preparation of tobacco extract using heated tap water, whereby the slurry of tobacco material and heated tap water is permitted to separate and then processed by further heating and cooling at ambient pressure. These methods produce a tobacco extract that have a lower nicotine concentration and are primarily used as flavoring agents, and therefore are not suitable for use in an electronic smoking device without the addition of additional nicotine added to the device's cartridge.